Baroque performance practices

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Baroque music has been so neglected that no original tradition as to its performance has been passed down through the centuries. We must therefore try to acquire as close a resemblance as we can under modern conditions with modern notation and improved instruments. The Baroque ideal did not consist of a faithful adherence to a carefully notated text. Composers depended upon the individuality of the performer to fill out the implications of a sketchily notated text. Rigid interpretations simply do not exist; however, there are outer boundaries. There have been treatises written by Baroque composers concerning Baroque performance practices to which we can refer, but many times obvious points to the Baroque musician were left out—points not obvious to us today.